


Vanitale

by GlitterGoddess



Category: Undertale
Genre: Bad Jokes, Gen, Help, I don't wanna tag things, Just another AU, absolutely nothing bad happens at all, death probably, lotsa MTT, nope nope nope, nothing but sunshine rainbows and glitter here, nothing suspicious here, sarcastic tags because I don't know what I'm doing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-22
Updated: 2017-05-22
Packaged: 2018-11-03 18:30:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10972950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GlitterGoddess/pseuds/GlitterGoddess
Summary: Frisk climbs the mountain as the result of a bet, in disbelief of the urban legends told by those living nearby. However, as I'm sure you could guess, SOMEONE can't watch where she's going and falls into a hole. You know the drill. Enjoy.





	1. Chapter One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk climbs the mountain as the result of a bet, in disbelief of the urban legends told by those living nearby. However, as I'm sure you could guess, SOMEONE can't watch where she's going and falls into a hole. You know the drill. Enjoy.

“Fight me, stupid mountain,” I snickered, trekking my way up the narrow dirt path. Putting on my best imitation of the local villagers, I whined, “No one ever returns from climbing Mt. Ebott. Kids keep going up there and they all get mauled by voodoo bears or sacrificed by a tribe of hostile fairies to the hidden volcano at the top. Myeh myeh myeh.” I glanced behind me, still able to make out the cluster of wooden homes at the foot of the mountain. Down there, the store owner was waiting for me with a crisp fifty dollar bill when I made it back.

  
I walked at a brisk pace, supporting my bag with one hand and brushing branches away from my face with the other. I was somewhat concerned that, even with the strap, the bag was going to fall off due to its own weight, and I would either lose it completely in the underbrush or get the fabric dirty, both of which were things I did not want to have to deal with.

  
I was too preoccupied with moving the plants out of the way to notice anything lying on the ground. As I moved my hand to push aside a rather dense clump of greenery, blocking me from seeing what was behind it, my foot caught on a large root, pitching me forward and through the bushes I had been trying to move.  
The hand that wasn’t protecting my bag immediately went out to catch myself, but it was met with nothing but emptiness as I continued falling forward, tumbling through the air. I wrapped both my arms around my bag and let out a panicked shriek as my view of the sky above rapidly shrank. I didn’t have time to register anything other than the fact that I had fallen into some sort of pit, not to mention the realization that I was probably going to die.

  
My screaming was suddenly cut off when I smacked against something… soft? I opened my eyes and looked up at the small shaft of sunlight making its way into whatever cave system I had stumbled into. I lifted my hands from the ground, noticing that I had fallen onto a bed of flowers, ranging in color from sky blue to a deep purple. Sitting up, I couldn’t understand how flowers had managed to break my fall, and upon giving all my limbs a few experimental movements, I quickly discovered that I was completely unharmed. Even my bag hadn’t been messed up upon impact. I squinted at the light pouring down from above me. It was almost as if I had been given my own natural spotlight. As peaceful as the bottom of the pit seemed to be, I had to find a way to climb back out of here. The walls were slick and slanted upwards, meeting at the top to form a small hole that let light into the cave. There was no way I could climb those.

  
With a defeated sigh, I began absentmindedly toying with the petals of a lavender colored flower. “At least it’s not voodoo bears…” I chuckled, sparing another glance at the sun above me. When I glanced back down, I noticed something shiny nestled between two of the flowers, the metal gleaming in the light from above. I picked it up, holding it out in front of my face. It was a golden necklace with a intricate heart pendant dangling from the chain. I quickly came to the conclusion that it was rather pretty and could be potentially worth more than the money I would’ve won in that stupid bet.

  
I finally got to my feet and turned around, surveying the entire room. It was the same dark gray walls all the way around. However, sitting right in front of me was a white gravestone with some fancy symbol engraved onto it. The realization that I was standing on someone’s drive finally hit me, and I scrambled backwards, trying not to mess up the flowers. “I am so sorry. Don’t, like, come haunt me or something,” I insisted, raising my eyebrows at the gravestone. “No spooky ghost?”

  
When there was indeed no spooky ghost, I dropped the necklace into my bag and walked over to a small door set in the rock. It was the same color as the walls, and I wouldn't have noticed it, had it not been for the symbol marked on it: the same symbol, in fact, that marked the gravestone. The door slid open with a push, and I was slapped with color the instant I stepped into the next room. Purple bricks covered the walls and floors of the hall. Massive columns wrapped in vines stood at intervals, making the space seem grand.

  
“Fancy,” I breathed, taking a few tentative steps into the hall. Although the purple colors were a dramatic shift from the depressing gray of the first room, the color was a bit faded and chipped in places, with ivy creeping up the walls in patches. This place had not been lived in, or at least maintained, for quite some time.

  
After walking down the hall and admiring the room, with only the echoes of my own footsteps to keep me company, I turned the corner at the end. I was prepared for more overgrown vines and lilac colored walls. What I was not prepared for was a hostile frog camping there, staring me down with its almost angry looking stare.

  
“Hello there!” I waved, flashing a friendly smile, “Are you here to sacrifice me to your underground volcano god?”  
The frog gave no verbal response, but instead leapt straight at my face. Shocked, I jumped to the side and laughed when the frog hit the ground, skidding across the floor. It seemed annoyed with my laughter and leapt at me again.

  
“How about we not,” I muttered, taking off down the corridor with the frog angrily hopping after me. Thankfully, the frog was small and couldn't possibly manage to keep up with my pace. “Haha!” I taunted, turning around to grimace at the bright blue animal.  
As the frog began slowly hopping towards me, I felt something collide into my back, sending me falling forward. I managed to catch myself, whirling around to face whatever had attacked me. “Rude,” I scoffed, coming face to face with some moth-like creature.

  
“What are you doing here..?” it whispered, looking rather alarmed at my presence.

  
“Oh, they talk. Of course they talk,” I threw my hands up in the air, “Why wouldn't they talk?!”

  
The moth thing seemed just as shocked, fluttering backwards before shooting an onslaught of white, arrow-like projectiles at me.

  
I tried to move out of the way as fast as I could, but at such close range, several of them managed to hit me. I stumbled backwards, angrily swatting at the creature with my arms.

  
In the midst of my panicked flailing, something else latched onto my back, presumably the frog from before. When I was unable to shake it off, I pressed my back against the wall, forcing it to jump off if it didn't want to be crushed. It wasn't until both the frog and the disproportionate moth were both facing me that I realized I had backed myself into a corner.

  
“Oh. Crap,” I hissed, ducking out of the way as the frog landed on the wall, sticking there. “What in the name of-”

  
“Oh…” the moth monster glanced to the side, staring off down the hall.

  
I followed its gaze and jumped when I noticed about seven more frogs sitting in a clump, each of them a different fluorescent color. Most of them had black spots in places, which made for a nice contrast. While the frogs were undeniably pretty, they were also undeniably malicious. “Look, you brought friends.”

  
The first frog gave a single ribbit, almost like a battle cry. The ones waiting on the path hopped forward, climbing all over my shoes. “Oh no,” I hissed, desperately trying to shake off the frogs that were inching up my leg. In the midst of peeling a neon yellow frog off of my pants, I heard a low chuckle coming from behind a pillar. I froze, looking in the direction of the noise. The frogs stopped their attack as well, collectively turning their heads.

  
“Oh… Oh no... “ the moth monster gave the pillar a frightened look. With one last glance at me, it flew off down the hallway. This seemed to amuse the voice behind the column, its laughter getting louder.

  
“Excuse me?” I would’ve walked over to it, had my entire lower half not been coated in frogs.

  
A wispy green form emerged from behind the pillar. The ghost-- or whatever he was-- smirked, taking in the scene in front of him, “You need some help there?”

  
While I would’ve considered the presence of a ghost alarming, this one looked more like a stereotypical Halloween costume only tinted a forest green color. “That would be just splendid,” I huffed, flinging another frog off onto the path. “That is, provided you aren’t going to murder me.”

  
“Nah,” the ghost shook his head, “Not my thing.” Glaring at the frogs, he tilted his head towards the end of the hallway. “Off. She’s with me.”

  
The frogs blinked at the ghost, eventually climbing down onto the ground and hopping away. One of them paused and turned back around to glare at me, as if to say ‘You win this round, human!’. It too eventually left, leaving me alone with the seemingly passive ghost.

  
“So. How’d the fall treat ya?” the ghost hovered in a circle around me, “You don’t look hurt. Not yet, anyway.”

  
“No, yeah, the fall was harmless,” I nodded, “I landed by some grave though. Is that yours?”

  
“So just because I’m a ghost you assume I’m dead?” he scoffed, “You humans and your stereotypes. Nah, that’s not mine. I imagine you’re pretty confused, huh? Quite a shift.”

  
“I don’t know where I am or how to get out,” I admitted, glancing down the hall to check for more demon frogs.

  
“I’ll get to that,” he promised, “But for now, I think we should get to know each other a little better, don’t you?”

  
“Why, so you know what to etch on my gravestone after you murder me?” I snorted, raising an eyebrow.

  
The ghost narrowed his eyes, “Oh, would you just relax? I’m not gonna kill ya. We can be on good terms, even. But I’d like to know whose ass it is that I’m saving here.”

  
“Oh, yes, please, save me from the scary frog,” I dramatically clasped a hand over my chest.

  
The ghost snickered, “The froggits? Nah, they can’t hurt you. But they’re far from the worst thing you’ll find down here. Boy are you lucky I found you before she did.”

  
“Who is 'she'?" I asked, becoming increasingly concerned for my own safety.

  
“I’ll tell you if you finally answer me. Who are you?” the ghost demanded.  
Clearing my throat, I answered in compliance to his request, “My name’s Frisk.”

  
The ghost smiled, nodding in approval, “Nice to meet you, Frisk. My name’s Vaz.” He drifted backwards, gesturing to the space around us. “Welcome to the Underground.”


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk gets a tour of the Ruins from the worst tour guide ever. Some cool magic stuff happens. Operation Don't Let Frisk Die is officially engaged!

I blinked, unimpressed by Vaz’s dramatic statement, “I suppose we are underground, yes.”

Vaz sighed, gesturing for me to follow him down the path, “C’mon, walk with me. I may as well explain some stuff.”

Nodding, I walked after him, eventually matching my pace with his. I looked at him, expectantly waiting for him to continue.  
“So you’ve fallen into Mt. Ebott. I’m sure you’re thrilled. I’m not sure if you know this or not, but there’s an entire race living under here. You probably don’t remember. A long time ago, we used to live on the surface with you humans, but there was a war, blah blah, boring history garbage. Long story short, we lost and got exiled to this underground cave system. But now there’s a whole civilization of monsters down here! This part is called the Ruins,” he glanced over at me, checking for understanding.

“I can see why they call it that,” I noted, “Everything looks… neglected.”

“Yeah, not a lot of monsters live here. Even I don’t live here. Those froggits and Whimsum-- the moth lookin’ thing that attacked you and then ran away like a baby-- still live in the Ruins, along with Loox, Vegatoid, and some others. Hopefully we won’t run into any of them. Most of the Ruins monsters like to keep to themselves. Now, there’s a lot more beyond this part of the Underground, including Waterfall, where I do most of my… business. I come here from time to time, and luckily, I happened to catch you in the act of fighting off some froggits,” Vaz chuckled at the memory.

“I have so many questions…” I sighed, not quite sure where to begin.

He nodded in understanding, “Ask away. I’m ready.”

“How have I never heard of this monster civilization before?” I questioned, amazed that something so seemingly huge could’ve gone unnoticed for so long.

Vaz scoffed, “Well that’s an easy one. Humans did their best to erase us from history. Now most of ‘em haven’t even heard of us.”

“Noted,” I quickly moved on down my list of inquiries, “Next. Who’s this ‘she’ you mentioned?”

“So-called caretaker of the Ruins,” he laughed at the thought, “She’s… well, she’s interesting. Can’t do much more than maintain one patch of flowers. The rest of the Ruins has kinda been left to rot.”

“Why would it’ve been bad for me to run into her?” I asked, sparing a paranoid glance over my shoulder.

“Ah, another easy question. I probably should’ve mentioned this first,” Vaz shrugged, an amused smile spreading across his face, “Most monsters-- not me, mind you-- hate humans. And I mean HATE humans. If she caught you lurking around down here, well, let’s just say that she’d’ve done more harm than those froggits from before. You’d be sufficiently dead. But don’t worry, I’m gonna help you not get brutally killed.”

“Are you going to help me get out of here?” I asked hopefully.

Vaz laughed, most likely at the sheer absurdity of my question, “Out of the Ruins, sure. But after that, you’re on your own. At the end of the Underground, there’s a barrier that seals us all down here. If I’m not mistaken, since you’re a human with a more powerful soul than us, you should be able to just walk on through. Easy. You know, provided you don’t die on the way there.”

“Dying would not be preferable,” I agreed with a chuckle, “Thanks for helping me out.”

“I wouldn’t count on someone else doing the same,” he cautioned, “Just because they don’t kill you, doesn’t mean they’re going to help you. I’ve seen… seven? Yeah, seven humans died down here. So, ah, be careful, okay?”

“I’ll do my best!” I declared, saluting the ghost.  
Vaz laughed a little before narrowing his eyes, “Could you pick up the pace a little? I want to get you somewhere safe before another hostile monster shows up. In case you haven’t noticed, you’re still walking around with a target on your back.”

“Right,” I quickened my pace to more of a jog, taking off down the corridor after Vaz. Just around the next turn was an alcove with a sky blue shower curtain blocking my view from whatever was on the other side. Nailed hastily to the top of the doorway was a wooden plank with the word ‘VAZ’ on it, painted in red. The crudely made door and sign served as quite the contrast to the old, decaying beauty of the Ruins.

“Here we are,” Vaz drifted ahead of me, pulling back the shower curtain and gesturing for me to go through. Upon stepping inside, I noticed that the small room was lined with shelves covered in various books and knick knacks. Some faded posters were taped to the walls. One of them in particular caught my eye. It was composed entirely of bright pinks and purples, the figure in the center striking a dramatic pose.

“Oh,” Vaz rolled his eyes as he let the curtain fall back into place behind him, “That. The guy on there is my… acquaintance, so I’m kind of obligated to have it. Gotta support him, even if he's really weird… It’s one of his older posters. You can have it if you want. Free of charge.”  
I squinted my eyes at the faded figure, “Wait. Not to be rude, but that’s a GUY?”

Vaz snickered, “Yup. That’s a guy, but I understand your confusion. He’s always been like that. I’ll have to introduce you to him sometime. You’d probably like him.”

“Provided he doesn't try to murder for being a human,” I added.

“Ah, see, you're learning. You can never be too careful,” he exclaimed, leading me back towards the center of the room. “Now… I'm a ghost.”

“Correct.”

“No, that wasn’t a question,” Vaz sighed, “Let me finish. I'm a ghost, and down here, we ghosts specialize in magic involving the soul. Not a lot of people know we do this stuff, so let's keep it on the down low.”

“Is it illegal?” I smirked.

He glanced to the side, “Not technically… But I'm sure the king and the royal guard would advise against these practices. One practice in particular, called a glamour, can disguise someone's soul, giving them a different physical appearance. What I plan to do is-”

“Disguise me so I don't look human,” I guessed.

Vaz nodded, “Bingo! Give the girl a prize! Now, how much money do you have on you?”

“Pardon?” I fixed him with a disbelieving look.

“I don't do this stuff for free!” he said as if it was obvious, “Quality of the glamour depends on how much G you're willing to pay.”

“Now listen here, you bedsheet with eye holes. I just fell down a hole and into a foreign land where everyone supposedly wants to kill me dead,” I huffed, crossing my arms, “Why would I have G on me?! Can't you just do this out of the kindness of your heart?”

“See, I would, but if I make an exception for you, I have to make exceptions for everyone, and that's not how I operate,” he explained calmly, before adopting a much more sour tone, “And if you liken me to a bedsheet again, I will sell your corpse to the royal guard for more money than it'll cost you to get this done.”

“Listen, Vaz, buddy, let’s be civil,” I put my hands up in mock surrender, “I don't have any G… but what if I traded you something instead?”

“I'm listening…” he nodded along with what I was saying.

Reaching into my bag, I pulled out the heart necklace, “This looks pretty expensive. Would this do?”

Vaz floated towards me, examining the piece of jewellery, “Deal.” He immediately moved to snatch it out of my hands, but I pulled it away from him.

“What’s the magic word~?” I teased, holding the necklace behind my back.

The ghost, however, was not in the mood for playing games, “I will cut you.”

“The correct response was ‘please’, but I will accept that,” I smiled, handing it off to him.

Vaz took the necklace, setting it on one of the nearby shelves, “Okay, hold still. And, uh, don't freak out. I'm willing to bet you haven't seen your soul before.”

The light in the room dimmed as a glowing red heart shape slipped from inside my chest, hovering just a few inches in front of me. “Whoa…” I breathed, giving it an experimental poke. The object felt warm, but also as if it were connected to me somehow.

“That's your soul. The culmination of your life and your being,” he quickly explained, “Cool, huh?”

“Very…” I muttered, transfixed by the comforting glow of the soul.

“Okay, time for fancy magic!” he declared, “Don't move.”

I didn't reply as the red glow slowly turned white. The heart changed color as well, a small white spot starting in the middle and growing outwards. I was too busy watching my soul to notice that I was glowing as well, the white leading spreading from my chest to the rest of my body. The light grew at an alarming rate, soon enveloping my entire vision. After a few moments the light faded and the room returned to normal. I blinked spots from my vision, the effects of the blinding light still lingering. My soul, now completely white, vanished back out of sight.

“Perfect,” Vaz nodded to himself, gesturing towards a full length mirror tucked in the corner, “Take a look.”

I made my way over to the mirror, wiping a smudge of the surface with my sleeve. One I was able to clearly see myself, I couldn’t help but smile at Vaz’s work. My once brown hair had turned a dark shade of green, and the blue-grey of my eyes had turned a bright gold with cat-like pupils. Perhaps the most noticeable difference in my appearance was the pair of dark horns now present on my head, curling backwards. I gave them a tentative poke, not really sure what I was expecting. My overall skin tone had changed as well, and now looked a bit more silvery. My outfit was still the same, my long black coat reaching past my fingertips. I grimaced at a dirt stain on my white shirt, but decided to leave it be for now. Turning and smiling at Vaz, I nodded my approval, “Nice work.” As I spoke, I noticed that my mouth now came equipped with fangs. “Ooh,” I exclaimed, upon noticing the extra detail.

“No problem,” Vaz brushed it off, “But, uh, I should warn you. The glamour isn’t permanent. It can take a few hits, but try not to get into any fights. Damage to your soul will break the disguise on it.”

“No fighting, Got it. I wasn’t really planning on it anyway,” I insisted, stealing a glance back at the mirror.

Vaz snorted, “Some monsters might not care whether you were planning on it or not.”

“Even if I look like one of them?” I muttered.

He scoffed in response, “Ohhh yeah. Not most of them, but you can’t count on everyone to be sunshine and rainbows, can you?”

“I guess not…” I ventured, absentmindedly playing with my new and improved hair.

“Oh yeah!” he recalled, “The glamour will fool most monsters. Some of them might be able to see through it. Like, uh, dog monsters, for example. They can detect a soul from a great distance away, and usually pinpoint if it’s human or monster. There are some other monsters as well, but I can’t remember off the top of my head.” He must’ve noticed the concerned expression on my face, because he added, “You’ll be fine. I swear on my brother’s life.”

I chuckled, “Your brother’s life? And exactly how much is that worth to you? Because I’d sell my brother to Satan for a hotdog.”

“You’ve got a brother?” Vaz suddenly seemed interested.

“Yeah,” I waved my hand dismissively, “I hardly ever see him. You have a brother?”

“Unfortunately,” he laughed, “He’s a ghost, like me. He’s not a bad guy, we just don’t tend to get along. Even though he’s younger he acts like he knows everything, including what’s best for everyone he meets.” Vaz let his eyes wander to the poster on the wall, “You still want that old poster?”

I glanced over at it, examining it for a few more moments before nodding, “Yeah, I’ll take it. It’s pretty.”

“It’s all yours. It was really ruining the decor of my space here,” he explained as I peeled the poster from the wall and rolled it up into my bag.

I gave Vaz a skeptical look, “Oh sure. Like you know anything about interior design.” I gestured to the lopsided shelves that were cluttered with books and seemingly pointless objects. “You have a shower curtain as your door. And an ugly shower curtain at that.”

“You just don’t have taste,” he taunted.

I scoffed, snapping my fingers and taking a step towards him, “Excuuuuuse me? My house doesn’t look like it was left to rot, only to be taken by some hobo who set up some hasty junk.”

“First of all, this place was left to rot. Second of all, this isn’t my house. You think I’d live in a place like the Ruins? I thought I already told you that,” Vaz pulled back the shower curtain, “It’s whatever. Let’s get going.”

“Going…?” I prompted.

He groaned, “Out of the Ruins. Closer to the barrier. Ya know, so that you don’t die.”

“Right. Dying is not on my to-do list,” I followed him back out into the corridor, “Lead the way, Vaz-io.”

“I’m gonna veto that nickname,” he decided, floating out in front of me, “I hope you’re ready, Frisk.”

I pumped my fist in the air enthusiastically, “I was born ready.”

Vaz just shook his head, wearing that same doubtful smile, “Not for this, you weren't.”

“Wanna bet?” I offered, extending my right hand.

“As much as I want to, ‘cause I would win,” he lowered his voice, “But someone doesn’t have any money.”

“Hey, a deal’s a deal. I gave you that necklace thing,” I reminded him.

“And I helped you not get murdered,” he countered, “And I gave you that crappy poster.”

I shrugged, “That’s fair, I suppose.”


	3. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk meets the sliiiiiighty suspicious caretaker of the Ruins who gives her lots of awful pie. Obviously other stuff goes on but I'm not going to lay it all out for you. Just read the chapter, you lazy human.

I followed Vaz as he took several turns through the halls of Ruins. While I probably should’ve been making note of where we were going in case I needed to find my way back, I instead chose to zone off and ignore whatever my ghostly companion was saying.

“HEY.” His voice snapped me out of my thoughts. “Are you listening, Frisk?!”

“No,” I admitted, poking one of my new fangs with my tongue. I still wasn’t quite used to them being there. “What were we talking about?”

“I was talking about the issue of you not knowing squat about monster history or geography or… anything. So, ah, rather than teach you all that garbage, just play along with me if we run into someone, okay?” he suggested, looking to me for approval.

“Okay,” I agreed, “I’m sorry I wasn’t listening earlier.”

“It’s cool,” he grumbled, keeping his eyes fixed on the path, “Let’s just go.”

We both avoided talking to each other as we made our way through the Ruins. Vaz would occasionally point out some landmark, but every room we entered looked the same to me. After what only felt like a few minutes of walking, I felt my foot connect with something soft, as opposed to the bricks that made up the path.

I removed my foot after hearing a ribbit of protest. Looking down the hall, I jumped back when I saw that it was completely covered in froggits. At least thirty of them were gathered there, staring me down with their beady little eyes. Even Vaz looked unnerved as he drifted backwards, “O….kay…”

One of the froggits towards the front of the group, this one a fluorescent pink, tilted its head to the side. They didn’t seem nearly as aggressive, probably due to Vaz’s glamour, but they were ominously gathered as if they were waiting for something to happen.

A stunned gasp sounded from behind me, causing me to freeze in place. It most definitely didn’t belong to Vaz. It had this soft, high-pitched quality to it. I spared a small glance at Vaz, who looked just as uncomfortable as I was feeling. We both slowly turned to face the source of the sound. Part of me was afraid that the instant we turned our backs, a wave of neon-colored frogs was going to rain down upon us.

“Oh,” Vaz laughed nervously, staring at the monster in front of us, “So nice to see you.”

The goat-like woman waved politely, a smile painted across her face. She wore nothing but black, from scarf wrapped around her neck, to her dress that reached to the floor. “Hello, Vaz. Are you having some sort of party with the froggits?”

“Uh, no,” Vaz quickly shook his head, “After all, who would have a party without inviting you?”

“I hate parties, Vaz,” the goat woman casually reminded him.

“Right! I would never invite you to any party ever,” he restated, “So, you do know what’s up with these froggits?”

“No…” she admitted with a glance to the side, “They usually only hang out in small groups. It worries me. They only get together like this when they’re angry or afraid. Oh dear… Vaz, do you think something bad is happening?”

“Pssh. Nah,” Vaz scoffed, “That’s ridiculous. Not that your ideas are ridiculous. But I think everything is juuuust fine.”

The woman seemed to drop the issue, turning her attention to me, “Who’s this? I don’t think I’ve seen you around here before.”

Vaz looked panicked for a moment, before clearing his throat and drifting in between us, “Oh, her? See, that’s the thing. I found her lying unconscious somewhere.”

“Really?” she gasped, “Where?”

“Oh, ya know…” Vaz pointed in some vague direction, “Back that way. But, uh, I think she’s got amnesia. I tried asking her where she was from and she had no idea what I was talking about. She remembers her name though! Go on, tell the nice lady your name.” He nudged me towards her, giving me an apologetic look.

While I had no doubt about my ability to play the role of an amnesiac, Vaz’s uncomfortable attitude towards the goat woman were making me nervous. Nevertheless, I extended my hand for her to shake. “My name’s Frisk… I think. Nice to meet you, Ms….”

“Dreemurr,” she finished, taking my hand, “But please, call me Toriel.”

“Well, it’s been a blast getting to know ya, Frisk, but I’ve gotta go take care of some business in Waterfall,” Vaz exclaimed, taking off in the opposite direction.

“Vaz, wait!” I called after him, “I don’t know where I am! You can’t just leave!”

“Byeeeeeee!” he shouted, disappearing around the corner, “Good luck finding the exit!”

“I’ve always wondered what he means by ‘business’...” Toriel mumbled to no one in particular. She turned to face me, looking shocked that I was still standing there, “Oh! You! You… You’ll need someone to help you, won’t you? Well… don’t worry, Frisk! I’m the caretaker of the Ruins, you know. I can guide you out of here. Oh dear… I do hope you can find someone you know out there. I’d hate for you to be off on your own. Are you sure you don’t remember anything?”

“Just my name…” I sighed, “If that even is my name… It’s just the only thing that sticks out to me. Everything else is just… a jumbled mess.”

“Well, don’t worry! I’m here to help you,” she took my arm, dragging me forwards.

“Toriel, I don’t mean to be rude, but the path is coated in frogs,” I reminded her.

“Froggits, dear,” she corrected me, “Oh, I suppose you really don’t remember anything. Well… I suppose I can try and help with that as well!”

Surprisingly, the froggits scooted to make a path as Toriel put her feet down. She guided me through the crowd, but all of their eyes followed us as we made our way down the hall. None of them moved but just turned their heads to watch us with their eerily unblinking eyes. “Don’t let them worry you,” she insisted, shooing a stubborn one out of the way with her foot. “They couldn’t hurt a whimsum even if they wanted to.”

“I see,” I nodded as we finally made our way through the clump of froggits. “Now, where are we going?”

“My house, which is near the exit out into the rest of the underground,” she muttered, still hauling me behind her. Even though I was usually a fast walker, I struggled to keep up with her brisk pace. She clearly knew her way around here, ducking around turns and corners faster than I could process what direction we were going. Unlike with Vaz, I wouldn't be able to make mental notes of landmarks even if I wanted to.

She finally came to a stop in front of a massive tree, its dead branches spiraling up towards the high ceiling of the Ruins. “Here we are,” she announced, finally letting go of me. I flexed my hand just to make sure that my bones hadn't been pulverized to dust by her grip.

“Lovely,” I followed her past the tree, towards the door of a house that was set into the wall. Although the house looked quaint and inviting, I had felt much more at ease when I was with Vaz.

I hesitantly mounted the front steps, heading inside as Toriel held the door open for me. The front room was adorned with pattern rugs and elaborate pots. They would've been pretty if it weren't for all the dead plants sitting in them. The brown, drooping stems managed to ruin the atmosphere of the space.

“Lovely house you have here.” I wanted to make myself comfortable on the couch beside the stairs, but the smell of something burning stopped me. “Ah…. Toriel? Something doesn’t smell quite right.”

Her eyes grew wide with panic, “Oh no no no no, not again!” She frantically shook her head, running through the alcove into the next room. I followed her, peering into the kitchen. Sitting on the counter were two charred items that resembled pies, not to mention the bits of flower stuck to the surface.

Toriel opened the oven, a plume of smoke escaping out into the air. We both coughed, trying not to breathe it in. She quickly closed it as she pulled yet another blackened pie from the oven, setting it on the counter beside the other rejects. She sighed, leaning against the counter, “...I’d forgotten it was in there, I’m sorry.”

“Are you so bent on having pie?” I asked, eyeing the three failed attempts.

“No… Just… I thought since you were here…”she trailed off, “But I didn’t know you were coming, I… I don’t know, I just wanted to bake a pie. I used to be very good at making pies, you know.”

“Maybe it’s a problem with the oven,” I suggested, “Perhaps it’s best if we avoid using that.”

“Nonsense!” she declared, throwing open one of the cabinets, “You are going to have pie.” It came across sounding more like an order than a promise. “Why don’t you relax while I get this lovely pie started? Is cinnamon pie alright with you?”

“That sounds delightful,” I smiled. Stepping back into the first room, I made my way to a bookshelf that I had spotted earlier. “Hey, Toriel?” I called, “Is it okay if I read some of these?”

“The books? Oh, of course! It might help you learn some of the things about the underground that you’ve forgotten,” she insisted, “I’ll call you when the pie is ready!”

“Thanks!” I skimmed the titles of the book, passing the fiction section. While I love a good story, history and facts about this place and these monsters was going to be more beneficial to my survival. I finally pulled one from the shelf, a red book with the title Properties of the Soul. Flipping to the table of contents, I noticed that the book consisted of numerous papers and reports from various authors. The book wasn’t that old, having been published about six years ago. One report in particular caught my interest. “The Persistence of the Human Soul” by Dr. Gaster. Finding the human soul incredibly relevant to my current situation, I flipped to the appropriate page and settled in on the couch.

“Perhaps the most striking difference between the souls of humans and monsters is remarkable persistence of a human soul after death. While the soul of a human is much stronger than that of a monster, human souls are able to sustain themselves even after the body has been destroyed. Absorbing a human soul will not immediately convert the soul’s energy to LV. It will, however, make the monster stronger via the soul’s incredible power, but the soul itself is still whole even when absorbed by a monster.   
It is a well known fact that with seven human souls, the barrier trapping monsters underground can be completely broken. It is this ability to persist after death, a quality that has been dubbed ‘determination’, that makes human souls so suitable for the task.  
Contrary to a common misconception, humans can not come back to life after they are killed, It is merely the soul that is sustained. The body, however, is rendered unusable and can no longer host a soul. Let it also be known that a human, when killed, will suffer damage to their soul. While it will still persist after death, the soul’s HP as well as strength may take a hit. Even after this, a damaged human soul is still more powerful than those of monsters.”

I set the book down on my lap, feeling strangely accomplished at this ‘strength of the soul’ that I didn’t even know I had. Although dying was still not preferable, at least my soul would be able to stay alive through determination, as the author had described it. Unfortunately, that would mean that my soul could never return to my lovely body, and that was not a price I was in the mood to pay.

I read a bit more of Dr. Gaster’s paper, which compared the properties of monster souls to that of humans. Monster souls seem to vanish after minutes of dying, but it was his last sentence that stuck out to me. “...but perhaps, by harnessing soul power and determination, monster souls can accomplish the same feat as those of humans.” It sounded to me like a new scientific hypothesis in the making. I silently thanked Dr. Gaster for the helpful information and tucked the book back into its proper spot on the shelf.

After a few more minutes, I heard Toriel exclaim triumphantly from the kitchen, “Yes! I did it! It’s… it’s a little charred around the edges, but it should still taste good!”

“Yay!” I sang, walking over into the kitchen, “I’m sure it tastes wonderful. I can just eat around the burnt bits.”

Toriel smiled, gesturing for me to take a seat at the small wooden table. She cut out a slice of pie, setting it on a plate in front of me. She took the set across from me and folded her arms in her lap, looking at me expectantly, “You’ll have to tell me how it is. It’s been so long since I’ve had someone taste them. Vaz says they ruin his ‘strict ghost diet.’”

“Well, thankfully, I am not a ghost!” I took an overly enthusiastic bite of the pie and had to fight the urge to gag once it touched my tongue. It somehow seemed burnt and raw at the same time, and the cinnamon filling tasted more like sand than anything else. Smiling through the pain, I swallowed, giving her the thumbs up sign. “It’s… fantastic. Thank you, Toriel.”

“No problem.” She placed a thoughtful finger to her chin, “Perhaps I haven’t lost my baking touch after all!”

“Oh, definitely not!” I scoffed, regretfully taking another bite of the bite. While agonizingly chewing through the dessert that barely qualified as food, I felt some sharp, along with the metallic taste of blood. “Oh no…” I muttered, swallowing as much of it as I could.  
“What’s wrong?” Toriel asked, her eyes full of concern.

“I…” I gently poked one of my fangs with my tongue, “I think I bit my tongue.” I mentally cursed myself for not being careful. I had completely forgotten those fangs were there. All the elements of Vaz’s glamour were going to take some getting used to, especially the fangs and horns.

“Oh dear…” she sighed, picking up the plate, “Here, I’ll pop this in the fridge for you so you can finish it later. It’s late anyway, and I’m sure you’ve had a very long day. Why don’t you go get some rest?”

“Sure,” I tried my best to sound disappointed at the absence of pie.

“Just use the first door on the left when you go down the hall,” she instructed, pointing past the main room of the house, “It hasn’t been used in a while, so make yourself at home.”

I nodded, following her directions. While I greatly appreciated Vaz’s help and Toriel’s hospitality, I knew in the back of my mind that I had no time to waste getting out of here. Despite Toriel’s cheerful statement, the Underground could never be a home.


	4. Chapter Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk has a strange dream in a strange house about a rather strange monster.

The matress’s springs creaked in reluctance as I climbed into the bed that was just a bit too small for me. Burrowing myself under the dusty purple quilt, I found it hard to get comfortable, mostly because my horns forbid me from laying my head on the pillow correctly. Despite the small bed and my position, the exhaustion of today finally took hold of me, allowing me to drift off to sleep.

  
_I found myself once again sitting on Toriel’s brown couch, the book about soul properties in my hands. The book was turned to the same page as before, the paper written by-_

_“Good evening, human.” I jumped at the use of the term ‘human’. I quickly felt the top of my head to make sure that the glamour was still in effect, When I felt horns, I relaxed a little, but narrowed my eyes at the mystery voice._

_“Please don’t be alarmed,” the voice assured me, “I know more secrets than I care to know, and that includes you being a human. I see you have read my research on souls. Fascinating, isn’t it?”_

_I took a deep breath, relaxing once I realized that the voice meant no harm, “Very informative, but…. your research? Then that means you’re-”_

_“Dr. Gaster,” the voice finished for me, giving a chuckle, “But Gaster will do just fine.”_

_“Cool, hey, so Gaster.” I leaned back against the couch. “Are you just a disembodied voice?”_

_“Well… Not quite…” he sighed, his voice seeming to come from all directions._

_“Then why don’t you stop being dramatic and spooky and come out of your hidey hole,” I suggested, setting the book off to the side._

_Gaster sighed once more, “You’re…. Demanding, aren’t you? Perhaps later… Now you certainly must be confused. Well, don’t be worried, human-”_

_“My name’s Frisk,” I corrected him._

_“Ah. So it is. Frisk,” he cleared his throat, “I have seen seven humans before you wind up down here. Two didn’t make it past the Ruins, one didn’t make it through the forest, two didn’t make it past the guard, and one made it all the way to Hotland. But none of them have ever made it to the barrier. However, every time they take monsters with them. Whether it’s one or twenty, the humans always always leave a mess behind them.”_

_“Well that’s not very nice, now is it? Is that why you guys don’t like humans?” I asked._

_Gaster replied, his tone remorseful, “Well… everyone has their reasons, but that is part of it, yes. Hu- Frisk, I don’t want you to become another one of them. I want to help you get to the barrier, but there’s only so much I can do in my rather… limited state. All I have to say is… Be good to the monsters you meet, and they just might return the favor. Unfortunately, I cannot guarantee your safety.”_

_“Thanks, Dr. G!” I chimed, “You’re a real pal.”_

_He gave a forced laugh, his voice accompanied by an edge of discomfort, “Aha… Please. I told you just Gaster would do.”_

_“Gaster Master? G-Dawg? Dr. Spooky? Gassacre? Gas-” I began listen off names on my fingers._

_“Okay, that’s enough,” he snapped._

_“Ouch,” I hissed, clasping a hand over my chest, “Rude!”_

_“You were being irritating,” he offered as an excuse. I just rolled my eyes, but couldn’t help smiling. I was about to offer some other ridiculous nickname when the world around me suddenly went blurry. “Gaster?” my voice sounded far off and distant as everything faded._

  
I sat upright in my bed, my head buzzing with confusion. I was immediately distracted by a loud creaking sounding from outside my room. The hallway lights were still off, but someone was making quite a racket, stumbling around in the dark. Assuming that the noises had woken me up, I made my way to the door, feeling around for the knob. The door fell open, and I nearly stumbled out into the hallway. I could make out Toriel in front of me, presumably making her way into the main room.

“Tori..?” I yawned, rubbing one of my eyes, “Why are you awake?”

She froze, turning around to face me. She said nothing, which I found just a tad unnerving.

“I had a really weird dream,” I added, trying to make conversation, “Is that why you’re up? Did you have a weird dream too?”

She narrowed her eyes at me, “....Asriel..?”

“Ah, no, that doesn’t ring a bell-” I started to say.

Toriel just chuckled, “Go back to bed, Azzy. You always do these things.” I just blinked, too confused to reply. Her eyes suddenly lit up, “But wait! At least have some pie before you go back to bed. Maybe it’ll be easier to sleep if you aren’t so hungry.”

I thought about protesting, but instead decided that it might be better to go along with whatever was happening, “Thanks.”

“I made your favorite again,” she sang, leading me into the kitchen. I was more concerned about having to eat her awful pie than whatever sleep deprivation fueled tangent Toriel had gone off on. She threw open the fridge and handed me a cold plate of the pie I had attempted to eat earlier.

“Thanks,” I muttered again.

“Don’t mention it, dear!” she smiled, placing a hand on my shoulder, “Now go on back to your room and get some rest!”

“Okay,” I nodded, taking my pie and shuffling back down the hallway to my room. I shut the door behind me, still thoroughly weirded out. Before trying to sleep again, I made my way to the small window situated on the back wall. Pulling it open, I dumped the pie off the plate, watching the pathetic excuse for food land in a sad lump on the floor of the Ruins. There was something satisfying about seeing it plop onto the ground. No human or monster with any self respect would ever eat that.

I shut the window and climbed back into the bed, staring at the wall while I waited to fall back asleep. Fortunately, I was still worn out and it didn’t take long.

  
_“You left,” Gaster sounded displeased._

_“Sorry, Toriel woke me up with all her stomping around,” I admitted, rubbing the back of my neck, ‘“And is this dream visiting going to become a regular thing with you?”_

_“Perhaps…” he sighed, “As strange as you are, huma- Frisk, you do make good conversation.”_

_“Eh, likewise, I guess,” I shrugged, “So you’re a scientist?”_

_“I am,” his tone adopted a bit more excitement, “I’m so glad you asked! I was the royal scientist before the current one. I did a lot of work involving the properties of the soul, as you’ve already seen. I also helped construct the Core.”_

_“The Core?” I asked, prompting him to keep talking.  
“Ah, right. Being a human, you wouldn’t know about that,” he explained, “It’s like a massive power generator for the entire underground, and I helped design it along with the king. But, uh, it was mostly me. I built some other interesting machines as well, but the Core is my pride and joy.”_

_“You’re acting like it’s your child,” I snickered._

_“Well… I suppose it is, in a way, I helped bring it to life, but, of course, the Core could never compare to-” he suddenly stopped himself in the middle of his sentence._

_“Never compare to…?” I raised an eyebrow._

_“Never mind,” he sighed, quickly changing the subject, “I’m sure you’re getting tired of listening to a disembodied voice. I suppose I may as well just show myself. You’ll keep pressing me if I don’t.” I was about to respond, when several trails of a thick black liquid running down the wall stunned me into silence. The liquid poured from cracks along the ceiling, from between books on the shelf, and even up from the floorboards. I lifted my feet from the floor, slightly afraid of touching the stuff. The liquid pooled together in front of me, swirling together to form a tall, human-like figure. The vague black shape morphed into a skeletal looking man wearing a long black coat. His hands looked like those of a typical human skeleton, save the strange hole in the middle of each of them. My eyes traveled to his face, where two black lines ran from either eye, one traveling upwards and the other pointing down._

_I finally found the ability to form words. “So… Are you… a skeleton?”_

_“No,” he grumbled, crossing his arms, “But I get that a lot. I’m a lich, actually.”_

_“Noted,” I nodded, standing up next to him. I wasn’t used to feeling very short next to people, but Gaster was a great deal taller than me. This left me wondering if all monsters were unnaturally tall. Toriel was a bit taller than me, but I couldn’t recall ever feeling this short next to someone. “You need to shrink,” I decided._

_“No,” he immediately shot that idea down, looking slightly amused, “Oh, and Frisk? If you ever need to know anything about the Underground or any one of its inhabitants, you can always ask me. I know everyone pretty well.”_

_I couldn’t help but want to test that theory, “Tell me about, uh,... Vaz, then. You know, the ghost?”_

_Gaster sighed, “Oh. Vaztablook. He came to me asking me to do this project for him. I know that he can be unbearably cocky, he sells pointless garbage, and that’s probably because he’ll do anything for money. At least his brother was more reasonable about negotiating a price.”_

_“What’s his brother like?” I asked._

_“His name’s Napstablook. Quiet, reserved, but still a huge know-it-all,” he listed the qualities off on his fingers, “I never really liked that family very much, but I suppose they’re decent monsters. At least they respect my work.”_

_“Vaz was nice to me,” I shrugged, “Nice enough to not kill me dead, that is.”_

_“They don’t have any quarrels with humans,” he stated, “But it isn’t as if they can help them openly. The royal guard would arrest them.”_

_“Royal guard?” I fired off another question, “I guess that’s kind of self explanatory, but do they do anything special?”_

_“They’re like the police or the army or what have you,” a proud gleam overtook Gaster’s face, “Some of them are very talented. However, it would be in your best interest not to run into them. If there’s anyone who doesn’t like humans, it’s the guard. Their captain is a very skilled fighter, but she’s an aggressive one… Just avoid them at all cost.”_

_“Got it. Thanks for all the tips,” I nodded my appreciation, “I’ll have to leave the Ruins soon though. Will I still be able to talk to you then?”_

_“In your dreams, yes,” he confirmed, “But you should know, that once you exit the Ruins, you’ll need to make your way to a village called Snowdin. There’s a path through the woods leading there. You must stay on that path. Do you understand?”_

_“Yes. I understand,” I replied, “Even though I don’t look like a human?”_

_“Dogs,” he explained simply, “They don’t usually go near the path, so you’ll be alright so long as you don’t go off into the woods.”_

_“I won’t,” I promised._

_“I don’t know…” he narrowed his eyes, “You seem like the type to go running off in the wrong direction if you saw something shiny.”_

_“You don’t know me, or my life!” I pretended to pout, crossing my arms._

_“You’re right,” he admitted, “Other than your name and the fact that you’re human, I know next to nothing, but what I do know is that you’re curious. I appreciate that about you, but reckless or thoughtless curiosity can often cause more harm than good.”_

_“Thank you, Socrates,” I snickered, “But I guess you’re right.”_

_“I find that I often am,” he commented, without an air of arrogance to his voice. It sounded as if he were simply stating a fact, “Now, I’m going to send you off. You’ll need to wake up soon anyway. Good luck.”_

_“Thanks, Dr. G,” I smiled, waving goodbye._

_He groaned, “I told you, just Gaster will do just fine.”_

_I scoffed as the world fell out of focus for the second time that night. It wasn’t nearly as disorienting, and I wasn’t surprised when everything blurred together into one confusing blob, before finally turning black._

 


	5. Chapter Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toriel shows Frisk something in the Ruins and shares some backstory information, because we have to have that in there so that everyone knows what's happening. Are we going to FINALLY learn something about that weird grave at the beginning of the Ruins? Well, gee, I dunno, why do you click on the chapter and find out?

Just like last time, I was lying in the bed in the same position I had been in when I went to sleep. A soft light crept into the room from the crack under the door. Judging by the sound of footsteps, Toriel was already awake.

 

Jumping from the bed and fixing my hair, I threw the door open, shouting an enthusiastic “Morning~!”

 

“Oh, you’re awake,” Toriel called from the main room, “Come in here.”

 

I made my way into the room, sitting next to her on the couch, “Hey, why were you awake last night?”

 

“I don’t remember getting up last night…” she muttered, setting her book down, “Did I?”

 

“You did,” I nodded, “I woke up too. You gave me more pie and told me to go back to bed.”

 

Toriel snapped her fingers, “ _ That’s _ why the pie wasn’t in the fridge! I went looking for it this morning and I just couldn’t remember what had happened to it.”

 

I shuffled my feet uncomfortably as we sat in silence for a few moments, “Hey, Tori?”

 

She looked a bit shocked at the use of the nickname, “...Yes?”

 

“Who… Who’s Asriel?”

 

Toriel froze, fixing me with an unsettling stare. After what seemed like minutes of silence, she took my hand and pulled me from the couch, “Come with me.”

 

“Oh, here we go then…” I muttered, trying to keep from being full on dragged out the door. “Toriel, I have legs.”

 

She didn't say anything in response and instead continued walking me through the turns of the Ruins. It was hard for me to tell, but I gathered that we were going back the way we came. We eventually passed Vaz’s little shower curtain alcove, which seemed devoid of any signs of life.

 

“Toriel?” I tried asking again, “Where are we going?”

 

“I'm going to show you something,” she replied flatly.

 

I chose not to press her any further and kept silent as she lead me back through what I recognized as the first column lined path of the Ruins. She paused in front of the original door I had come through and took a deep breath before pushing it open.

 

The morning sun shone down from the hole leading to the surface onto the bed of flowers where I had first fallen. The grave was still there, the white stone illuminated by the light of the sun. I looked to Toriel, waiting for her to say something.

 

“That,” she cleared her throat, “Is Asriel.”

 

“So he’s dead?” I asked upon realizing what a stupid sounding question that was.

 

She nodded solemnly, leading me over to stand beside the grave. “Yes. And he was my son. The first human that fell down here took him from me. He wasn’t the only monster to fall at the hands of a human since we were sealed down here; the other humans that came after followed the same path. Not one of them was stopped before they managed to claim the lives of innocent monsters. Now do you understand, Frisk?” Her tone grew stern as she fixed her gaze on me. “Do you understand why we must fight them? Why we must keep them from ever hurting another monster again? They have hurt me, my son… They have hurt us all.”

 

“Oh…” I wasn’t sure what to say in response, “I’m… I’m sorry about your son.”

 

“You have nothing to apologize for, my dear,” she smiled sweetly before placing her hands on my shoulders. Her smile vanished as she fixed me with a hard stare, “But you must promise me something. Promise me, that if you ever find a human in the Underground, you will stop them.”

 

I nodded, meeting her eyes, “I promise.”  _ I promise that I won’t be like that, Toriel. I promise not to hurt anyone. I’m not like the human that killed your son. _ We both took a breath as she stepped back to look at the grave.

 

Toriel tilted her face up towards the light and sighed, “You know… I did always promise him that one day he’d see the sun. It’s a shame that this was the best I could do.”

 

I shuffled my feet, “I’m sure one day we’ll all get to the surface. It must be beautiful.”

 

“Maybe one day… It takes the power of seven human souls to completely break the barrier. So far my husband has collected six,” she explained.

 

“Oh. Who’s your husband?” I asked in attempt to keep the conversation on a less depressing note.

 

“His name is Asgore. He’s the King of the Underground, but I hardly see him anymore,” she shrugged at the question, her voice carrying no real emotion, “Our marriage was arranged, but we had a good family. Goodness knows we both loved Asriel. He’s just as bent on getting us out of here as I am.”

 

“How old was Asriel when he… Uh… Died?” I muttered, hoping that the question wouldn’t sound too insensitive.

 

“He was twenty, if you want to measure it that way, so he was hardly a child,” she cast another mournful glance at the grave. “But he was supposed to have a whole lot of life left. He was supposed to be king one day. He would’ve been a good one too. He was smart, determined, passionate... “

 

I couldn’t help but smile while listening to Toriel praise her son, “He sounds like a really cool monster. I wish I knew more about him.”

 

“Oh, well I actually have a picture with me,” she said, sticking her hand into one of her robe pockets, “Let’s see here…” She fished around before checking the other one. When didn’t seem to find anything in there, her eyes grew wide with panic, “What?! W-where’d it go?!”

 

“Where did what go?” I immediately started looking around on the ground.

 

“I have this locket with his picture in it!” she exclaimed, “I could’ve sworn I had it in my pocket.”

 

Guilt twisted in my gut as I recalled selling that very item to Vaz. “Maybe you dropped it?” I suggested, “Let’s look around.” I pretending to look between the flowers where I had originally found it, shaking my head at her when I found nothing.

 

“Oh dear… Oh dear,” Toriel began pacing back and forth in front of the grave, “Could I have left it at the house?!”

 

“Do you want to go back and check?” I offered, heading towards the door, “We can check the rest of the Ruins on our way.”

 

“You’re sure it isn’t here?” she glanced around the room.

 

“I checked. I don’t think so,” I held the door open for her as we both made our way back into the Ruins. As we ran down the hall, stopping to check behind all the columns, a whimsum drifted up beside me.

 

“Oh… Are you looking for something?” it asked politely.

 

Toriel seemed to notice its presence and ran over to me, “Yes, yes! Have you seen a locket? About this long?” She estimated the measurement with her fingers, “It has a heart pendant on the end of it.”

 

The whimsum shook its head, “No…. I’m sorry.”

 

“Please let me know if you find it!” she called after the whimsum as it took off down the hall. “Have you seen anything, Frisk?”

 

“Afraid not,” I admitted, “But why don’t I go check up ahead while you keep searching this area?”

 

“Very well,” Toriel agreed, “Just be careful! Do you know what it looks like?”

 

“I think so,” I replied as I ran down the corridor, trying to remember how to get to Vaz’s little shop. It wasn’t hard to miss, what with the blue shower curtain and the painted sign. I carefully pulled back the curtain to check if anyone was in there. Sure enough, Vaz was long gone just like he said he would be. Everything looked to be in the same place from when I’d first come in, save the poster that was tucked in my bag.

 

I scanned the shelves, trying to remember where I had seen him put the locket. I noticed it tucked away behind a small wooden box, and I quickly grabbed it and held it up in front of me. It looked to be in the same condition as when I left it here. After glancing behind me to make sure no one had snuck up on me, I opened the pendant to reveal a faded picture of a gray goat monster with some black markings. The picture looked as if it had been cut out from some family photo. The hand of another monster, who I assumed to be Toriel, was resting on his shoulder. I smiled at the picture, but couldn’t help but feel bad for taking the necklace in the first place. Naturally, I had to return it to her.

 

I left Vaz’s place to make my way back to Toriel’s house. Once I stepped inside, I quickly confirmed that she wasn’t home yet. I was about to just go wait in my room when the stairs leading down into some sort of basement caught my attention. I had noticed them before, but now that Toriel wasn’t here, there was nothing to stop me from checking them out. I ran down the steps, locket still in hand. At the bottom there was nothing but a narrow hallway leading to a door, one much more modest than the one at the end of the first cavern. It was engraved with the same symbol as the gravestone and the other door, and light seeped out from the crack beneath it.

 

“Is that the exit?” I breathed, taking a step back from the door. Gaster had told me to leave the Ruins when I could, but could I really just up and leave like this? I made my way back upstairs and into the kitchen, finding a notepad sitting on the counter. It wouldn’t be right of me to leave the Ruins without saying goodbye, would it? Setting the locket on the table, I grabbed the pen and quickly wrote:

 

Toriel-

I wanted to thank you for letting me stay with you, but I need to head out into the rest of the Underground. I can’t stay here forever, and I need to explore the world I’ve forgotten. I’m sorry about Asriel, and I think I would’ve liked to have known him. Say hi to Vaz for me if he ever comes back around here, and tell him thank you for showing me around. Your pie was fantastic, and I hope you have a good time here once I’m gone. Wish me luck as I move forward! I intend to keep my promise to you, but maybe one day you’ll meet a nice human who doesn’t want to hurt anyone. I’m sure they’re not all like that.

Until we meet again,

Frisk

 

I set the note beside the necklace and walked back down the steps. Writing out my farewell had turned out to be a lot easier than having to explain to her why I had to go. At least this way she wouldn’t have a chance to try and convince me to do otherwise. I reached the door, placing a hand on it. It was cold to the touch, the promise of whatever was waiting for me outside filling my soul with curiosity. I gently pushed on it, the door swinging open and inviting a blast of chilly air inside. My eyes adjusted to the light to make out a snowy forest, a path cutting straight through, leading to the rest of the Underground and, more importantly, my way home.

 


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk leaves the Ruins behind and ventures into the forest where she encounters some not so friendly monsters. Thankfully someone's around to keep her from being brutally killed! Seriously, Frisk, you're only still alive because you keep getting lucky.

With a confident stride, I marched down the path, avoiding all the sticks and roots that managed to get in my way. There were no pre-existing footprints on the path, just a fresh looking cover of snow. I kept my eyes on the intertwined branches as I walked. There was no annoying sunlight filtering through the trees’ bare limbs, although the entire forest was bathed in a similar light, radiating from who knows where; there was much I still had to learn from this world, but I couldn’t afford to stay and figure it all out. For example, how did it even snow down here? There were no clouds for precipitation to fall from. I decided to just write it off as magic for now as I continued down the road.

_Stay on the_   _path._ Gaster's warning echoed in my mind. I didn't want to find out what trouble venturing off into the trees would bring, but he and Vaz had both mentioned dog monsters. Not only were they supposedly territorial, they would also be able to see through my glamour, making them that much more aggressive. I listened for any signs of monsters nearby, but no one seemed to have been through here recently, or at least since the last snowfall.

Oddly enough, the absence of any monsters was more eerie than comforting. If there was an entire civilization living down here, you'd think this road would be busier, since it seemed to be the only path connecting the Ruins to the rest of the Underground. Then again, there had to be another exit in the Ruins. Why would the only exit be in Toriel's basement, of all places? Surely Vaz, who didn't seem to like Toriel at all, would've had some other way of leaving.

My thoughts were interrupted when I felt what seemed like branches poke into my legs. Realizing that I hadn't been paying attention, I looked down to see a cluster of branches in the middle of the road. Just ahead of me, I could see that the ice covered branches were connected to a fallen tree. The trunk lied across the path, surrounded by a cloud of prickly branches. The trunk itself wasn't too big, and I probably could've climbed over it if it weren't for the tree's limbs sprawled out everywhere. I could practically hear Gaster shouting at me, but the only way I could see to get around the tree was if I walked around it by, dare I say it, going a few feet off the path. I didn't think it'd matter so long as I could still see the path. After all, I'd only be off of it for a few seconds.

I walked off into the deeper snow, some of the powder falling into my boots.  _Fantastic. Wet socks. Just what I wanted_. I walked parallel to the tree, annoyed when I found that it was taller than I had expected. The tree extended off into the woods more than I would've liked, forcing me to trek through the woods until I found a part that was thin enough for me to climb over. The trunk finally tapered off into a tip, allowing me to easier walk around the top of the tree. Now it was just a matter of getting back on the path-

The sound of something crinkling through the bushes stopped me. I slowly turned to face the source of the noise, tensing up when I noticed a white paw peeking out from beneath a shrub. I stayed completely frozen, eyes locked on the bush.  _Maybe if I don't move it won't notice me- What no? That's stupid. This is a dog monster, not a dinosaur!_  I slowly backed up, my feet digging through the snow. I made it less than three feet before a loud bark nearly scared me out of my skin.

A wolf-like monster emerged from the bushes, its teeth bared in a snarl. I immediately turned and took off for what I assumed to be the path. The dog barked again, the sound of cracking sticks and the thunder of paws letting me know that it was chasing me. I quickly turned around when I heard more rustling to see that two more dogs had joined in the chase, one white like the first one and the other a dark black.

I caught my breath once I got back on the path.  _That was close-_ However, the dogs didn't sulk back into the forest like I had hoped. They simply made their way onto the road, the fallen tree now positioned behind them. I took off running again, the end of my coat waving in the wind behind me. I nearly slipped backwards when I felt something tug on my clothes. Sure enough, the black dog had taken to biting my incredibly vulnerable coat, growling as it did so.

"Off!" I hissed, attempting to pry my clothes from its mouth. The fabric tore as I wrenched my coat away from the dog. It snarled at me and spat the scrap of cloth still in its mouth on the ground as its two companions slowly advanced closer to me.

I was prepared to start running for my life again when a row of giant bones suddenly appeared in front of me, forcing the dogs back towards the tree. My eyes widened in shock as the dogs retreated back into the forest, one of them growling at me one last time before fleeing the scene. The bones vanished back into the ground, leaving holes in the snow.

A light tapping on my shoulder forced me to turn around and face whatever had just saved me from getting mauled by angry dogs. Although I could clearly see a figure near my shoulder level, I glanced to both sides before finally looking down. I gasped in mock surprise when I 'noticed' a monster standing in front of me, his eyes narrowed in an amused expression.

"You're hilarious," he chuckled, extending a hand, "But is that anyone to thank someone for saving you? Dumb dogs... Territorial as hell, I'm tellin' ya."

I took the monster's hand as I took a better look at him. He looked to be some kind of skeleton, a bit on the short side. Underneath his gray jacket, he appeared to be dressed in some kind of casual suit. Admittedly, he pulled it off rather well. I tried my best to avoid looking shocked upon seeing a walking, talking skeleton. They aren't typically meant to exit the flesh. "Yeah, thanks," I nodded, "Sorry about the short joke, I just saw an opportunity and went with it."

"Eh, it's whatever," he shrugged, his grin refusing to fade. "The name's Sans, by the way. I don't think I've seen you around here."

"Nope, you sure haven't," I racked my brain for some excuse as to why not.  _I hope this isn't one of those places where everyone knows everyone..._

"Then where're you from, if I've never seen you in Snowdin?" he asked, sticking his hands in his pockets. He seemed laid back enough, but I didn't want to let my guard down. Like Vaz had said, there were a lot of monsters that I didn't want to get involved with.

"Oh, I'm from the Ruins," I said, completely improvising at this point, "I've lived there, like, my whole life, but I decided it was about time I left, you know?"

"Huh. I heard that the few monsters that live there stay there because they wanna be isolated," Sans muttered, "So then why'd you leave? Had enough of that whole deal?" "It's... kind of personal." One thing I had learned after years of interacting with people was that if you said something was just 'too personal' to talk about, they'd probably drop it and leave you alone. Sure enough, Sans let it go and went back to discussing the dogs.

"Kind of unfortunate that those dogs ambushed you like that. Kinda weird too," he pointed out with a smirk, "Maybe it was because they've never seen you before either, but thank goodness I was here to help you."

I scoffed. This helpful skeleton was starting to sound a little cocky to me.  _He'd better not try and get me to pay him back or something stupid like that._ Placing my hands on my hips, I rolled my eyes, "I could've handled it, but thanks anyway. I owe you my life. I'll give you my entire inheritance as a reward. Hell, you can even have my first born child. Oh, and why not a monument to go along with it!" I spread my hands out, envisioning the glorious architectural feat in my mind. "Sans the Skeleton: Saved Frisk From Some Angry Puppies Once."

"Okay, can it, smarty," his amused tone faltered, "Just lemme show you to the village and you can figure out where you need to be from there. Might I recommend Waterfall? Lovely place. Real pretty. And most importantly, a good distance from here." Sans turned around to continue on down the path, "Are you coming?"

"Yes, yes, I'm coming," I quickly caught up with him, falling in pace with his leisurely stroll. The path finally curved, steering us away from a rather dangerous looking ravine. "Has anyone ever fallen in that?" I asked.

"Nope," he assured me, sparing a glance over the edge, "It's kinda hard to miss. You'd have to  _try_ to fall down there."

I was about to respond when a wooden sign over by a tree caught my attention. I ran up to it, leaning in to read the faded letters: 'Welcome to Snowdin Forest. Snowdin Village: 1.2 miles ahead.' "Not that far...," I whispered, looking at the road up ahead.

“Hey, Frisk,” Sans called after me, his feet crunching through the snow as he jogged to catch up with me, “I would advise not straying too far from me. Don’t want you running into more trouble. Those dogs might come back."

“I’m pretty sure I can handle it, but thank you,” I smiled sweetly, “That is, if your short little legs can keep up with me.”

“Oh really?” Sans scoffed, “Race ya to that sentry station.” He pointed up ahead at what looked like a small wooden shelter nestled in the trees.

“Bring it, baby,” I taunted, doing a few quick warm up stretches, “I’ll have you know that I was the fastest kid in my third grade gym class!”

“Wow, look at you, track star! On your marks, get set, GO!” Sans shouted. We both took off for the sentry station and although the snow and ice was impairing my ability to run, I was fairly confident that someone so short and seemingly apathetic would be able to beat me. After all, what's a skeleton compared to three angry dogs?

I skidded to a halt in front of the station, spraying snow out in front of me, “Whoo-hoo! Take that, Saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa….” I trailed off when I noticed the skeleton sitting inside the sentry station, fiddling with a notepad that had been left there.

“Hey,” he raised a hand in acknowledgement, “Looks like I win.”

"Wha- How- Why-" I gestured wildly at the scene before me, "When did you even pass me?!"

"Gotta pay more attention, Frisky," he snickered, stepping out from behind the station.

I crossed my arms, pretending to pout, "You cheated!"

Sans just shrugged and winked at me, "Better luck next time. Now let's stop messing around and just get to Snowdin." He reached into his jacket and pulled out a small bag of pretzels, "But first... Are you hungry?"

"Did you just pull pretzels out of your jacket?" I narrowed my eyes at him. He merely nodded and dangled the bag in front of me. Sighing, I snatched the bag from him. "Yes, I'm hungry. All I've had to eat recently is disgusting pie."

Sans just chuckled as I devoured the snack within about thirty seconds. "Well there's this really good restaurant in town that I think you'll like, but uh..."

"But what?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Owner doesn't like me very much. Actually, he doesn't really like anyone, but I get the feeling that he only puts up with certain people because my brother tells him to," Sans shook his head, "The guy makes a mean burger, but man, you'd think he'd respect someone outside of the Royal Guard."

"Are you in the Royal Guard?" I asked, another one of Gaster's warnings making its way to the forefront of my mind.

He laughed at the thought, waving his hand dismissively, "Oh, no, no, no. That's not my thing. I just patrol this road for them. My brother's a part of it though. He's actually  _really_ highly ranked for being as young as he is. Pretty impressive if you ask me."

"I don't really know how hard being in the Royal Guard is, but I guess so, yeah," I shrugged with a smile, "Maybe I'll get to meet him."

Sans's grin faded, replaced with something that almost resembled a scowl, "We'll see. Now let's go."

I just nodded, following him down the path. He didn't say a word as he guided me along the path, occasionally checking to make sure we weren't being followed by anyone. I honestly didn't know what to make of this skeleton. He seemed friendly and laid back one moment, but harsh and annoyed the next. He seemed like he could make a good friend, but there was something about his demeanor that didn't quite feel right.  _But what would he do if he knew I was human? Kill me on the spot?_ Not to mention the Royal Guard, who would surely be lurking around in Snowdin.  _Just remember what Vaz said. Don't go picking fights, because if you get hit, you and your glamour are done for._


End file.
